Brussels, 14 February 2024 (MIA) - Addressing the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Security and Defence on Wednesday, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană mentioned among other the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in North Macedonia. 

He expressed concern over what is happening in terms of disinformation and hybrid attempts to influence the elections. "This is of great concern to us. We see regional players playing, and also we see Russian players playing," said Geoană. 

"What we see in the Western Balkans is a level of instability which is not dangerous, but you never know when a flame and a spark can have combustion and have trouble again," he added. 

According to him, it could be anticipated that Russia will be very interested through proxies to create problems, also as some of the countries are accelerating their European Union track. He added that the European future of the region is of great importance for NATO.

The NATO Deputy Secretary General stressed among other that the Black Sea, the Western Balkans and the Adriatic are a common strategic field of strategic interest for NATO. 

Speaking of Moldova, he noted that elections are also upcoming, and there is anticipation of massive interest from Russia to undermine the pro-Western Government in Chișinău. Geoană announced that NATO and the European Commission are to open a center to fight disinformation in Moldova.    

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